


Broken Hearts and Healing Hands

by BurntKloverfield



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Solo is a nerd who does calligraphy, Ben Solo is getting wrecked, Burns, Canon Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Comfort, Cute, Distracted Ben Solo, F/M, Father son heart to heart, Fluff, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Ghosts, Force Healing, Forehead Touching, Hugs, Kyber Crystals, Lightsabers, Love Letters, Mail time Mail Time Maiiiiilllll Time, May The Fourth Be With You, May the Force Be With You, Post TLJ, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Post-TLJ, Rey’s got mail, Rose is the hero we deserve, Serious Injuries, Surprise Kissing, The Force, gore?, graphic descriptions of internal organs, it's in a medical setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-02 08:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 15,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14540421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurntKloverfield/pseuds/BurntKloverfield
Summary: Happy May the Fourth!Rey and Ben try to fix the lightsaber.





	1. Chapter 1

The planet the Resistance rested on was ancient and quiet and jungle. It was a waiting game now. Rey found herself constantly among the trees. She had even fashioned herself a treehouse where she would go to study the ancient texts she had taken. She pored over one that discussed the art of the saber, but it was difficult to translate, and the depictions did not help her. She held the splintered saber halves in her hands, meditating, trying to feel the Force’s will. 

 

All went quiet. “Hello, Ben,” she whispered, not opening her eyes. 

 

He hesitated to answer. “Hello, Rey.”

 

She opened her eyes, then. He was folding himself to sit across from her. She was intrigued that he would take a seat on the floor with her. His eyes bore into her. 

 

“You don’t know how to fix this, do you?”

 

He furrowed his brow. “I am doing what I can to bring peace and order to the Galaxy—.”

 

Rey shook her head and held up the saber pieces in her hands. “I meant this.”

 

His face relaxed, and he grew confident. “Show me.”

 

She focused on the pieces and made them separate from each other. In the center of the floating pieces, the two halves of the kyber crystal circled each other. 

 

He studied the damage. After a long time, he retrieved his own saber from his belt. He held it in both hands, and it began to float and disassemble. She noticed that it had been repeatedly repaired, but that observation was forgotten as soon as the crystal was revealed. It was glowing red, in the shape of a heart, with a large gash spiderwebbing down the middle. 

 

“Half a crystal is no good,” he told her softly. He frowned, and his own crystal cracked apart. He looked up at her as he moved a piece to her. She gasped when a very solid half of his broken heart fell into her open hand. It was heavy, hard, and cool. She held it up to catch the light. It was brilliant. Refracted shapes sparkled on the walls of her little haven. 

 

“May I?” He asked, nodding to the crystals Rey was levitating. 

 

She nodded, moving one towards him. She watched in awe as he carefully plucked it out of the air. He examined it in his own light, little blue prisms moving across his face. He brought the other half of his own kyber crystal up to it and surrounded both with his large hands. Rey felt waves of the Force course through her soul. Ben seemed to be glowing. There was a pull at her heart, and the half piece in her hand began to glow and raise up to meet the other piece of the legacy saber’s kyber crystal. Ben looked up at her, the strain showing in his neck and clenched jaw. She reached out and took the pair of crystals in her own hands. The Force crashed upon her in wave after wave. 

 

“Rey!” Ben called out, and she was suddenly aware that her own Force energy was being pulled into the pair of crystals. She focused, copying the pattern she felt emanating from Ben across the Force Bond. She knew what he was doing. She felt guided as she merged the crystals into one. There was a sudden flash of light and searing pain bit her hands, making her scream. 

 

Another light flashed from Ben’s gloved hands, and he gasped, dropping the now glowing purple kyber crystal onto his lap. He promptly reached out, taking her pained hands into his own, and slowly pulled them apart to reveal a little purple heart of kyber crystal, the exact same as the one that had now fallen to the floor in front of him. He made a shushing sound as he took the crystal from her palms and set it on the ground in front of her and held her burned hands in his gloved ones. She felt tears in her eyes at the pain, but she let him move the force around them to calm her soul and calm her pain and calm her burns. 

 

“Do you have bacta?” He asked. 

 

She shook her head, feeling her bottom lip tremble. 

 

“You, get a bacta kit,” he ordered someone unseen to her. 

 

“Thank you...”

 

Ben nodded, rubbing his thumb over the side of her hand. “You did very well,” he commended. 

 

She nodded, looking down at her burned hands. Suddenly, he pressed his forehead to hers.

 

“I’m sorry. I’ve never done that before. I didn’t know it would burn,” he apologized. 

 

She felt her heart skip a beat and her stomach flutter.  Through his ears, she heard the beeps of a small mouse droid. He pulled back and collected the bacta from the kit and started to apply it to her hands. 

 

“You’ll need a new casing for the lightsaber,” he said conversationally. “I could have one made for you, if you would like. These look much more stable than mine.” He looked into her eyes. “It won’t require stabilizing cross guards.”

 

Rey smiled and nodded. “Will you help me build it?”

 

Ben genuinely smiled. “It would be an honor.”

 

Once her hands were wrapped, she leaned forward quickly, catching him off guard as she gave his cheek a kiss. “May the Force be with you,” She implored. 

 

His ears turned bright red. “May the Force be with you, always,” he echoed. 

 

She leaned forward again, but he was gone. She looked down at her carefully wrapped hands and noticed that she had her own heart in front of her legs, but she had his heart in front of her, too. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey gets a package.

Ben stared at where Rey had been a moment before. He was now alone in his quarters, except for the little mouse droid still holding the medikit. He returned the bacta to the kit and stood. He looked down at his dismantled saber, resting on the cold, shiny floor. There was no crystal. He puffed his cheeks slightly. He wasn’t worried. He just hoped that the next time the Force bridged the stars between them would be soon. Until then, the powerful Force wielding Supreme Leader would be without his trademark saber. With an outstretched hand, the pieces joined together, an empty shell of what they once were. He clipped the hilt to his belt and pondered his next steps. 

 

He picked up his holopad and swiped through the various documents. He vaguely remembered one that described various weapons from before the Empire, and there was a section on lightsabers. He would not dare create a sith inspired saber for her, and he considered what style of hilt she would like. He found the document and pored over the various blades depicted. 

 

* * *

 

 

Rey flipped through the vexing charts and diagrams in the ancient text, annoyed with how complicated simply forming a lightsaber could be. It was a machine, a tool. She set the book down and pulled the twin crystals from her satchel. She had studied them all night, and she had determined that they were not only identical, but complementary. They did not just look exactly like each other, they fit together like they were made to do so. 

 

She thought that the color was beautiful. She had rarely seen purple anything, let alone rare crystals.

 

Her comm link beeped, and Chewie roared at her. She frowned. “A package?” She confirmed. An affirmative growl. “I’ll be back to base soon.”

 

Parcels were few and far between in the galaxy, and Rey could only remember having one package ever delivered to her on Jakku, and that had been commandeered by Unkat Plutt the moment he had his dirty paws on it. They were parts she had desperately needed for her little speeder bike, and she was furious. She never got all the pieces back. 

 

When she approached, she heard Chewie long before she heard the conversation proper. Poe Dameron was insisting that the package be checked, and Chewbacca was insisting that it was not Resistance property. 

 

“What’s going on?” She interupted, jogging the last sprint to the Falcon on the tarmac. 

 

“There’s been a package sent to the Resistance,” Poe explained, “with First Order coding and markings on the container.”

 

Chewbacca roared at Poe, turned to put himself between Poe and Rey, and put the black box in Rey’s arms. 

 

“It’s addressed to me, not the Resistance,” Rey noted. 

 

“It still needs to be scanned!” Poe insisted. “You have enemies!”

 

“I have the Force, Poe,” She shushed. She shook the box. “No explosives.” She put the box to her ear. “Nothing alive.” She turned it upside down. “Nothing poisonous.” She righted the parcel. “If it was sent to kill us all, we’d already be dead.”

 

Poe crossed his arms. “Look, I’m your superior officer and—.”

 

“Don’t do that, Poe,” Rey sighed, stalking past him. “Finn told me about your mutiny. You have no right to talk about hierarchies and superiority.” 

 

She felt his jaw drop through the Force, but she smiled when Chewbacca whined a laugh at Dameron. 

 

She closed the door behind her when she reached her bunk and settled herself onto the cot. She saw that it wasn’t just a box that could be ripped into by anyone. The seam was hardly perceptible, and she sensed a puzzle of tumblers just on the inside. She began to slide them through the maze with the Force, smiling each time she heard a click of on falling into place. The last one let the lid relax and air hissed out. 

 

She lifted the lid to find a strange collection of items. There was collection of paper scrolls on top. She had never seen paper until the ancient texts. She now had several rolls of beautifully tied scrolls. She tenderly lifted the bundle out and found that one was left separate. She untied it and discovered fluid, careful lettering in solid black ink. She recognized the letters singly, but it took focus to put the looping curved characters into words. The first word was her name. She touched the word, so gently scripted. She saw a moment where Ben’s ungloved hand formed the characters, and a glimpse of the faint smile on his lips. 

 

_Rey,_

_I know not the next time the Force will connect the two of us. I have so much that I want to share with you, that I want you to have. I have many notes from my time as a padawan, and I would not want that knowledge to be lost. I ask that you read them, keep them close. They are precious, just as you are._

_There is a simple set of instructions on how to put the pieces together, but I would prefer to keep my word and help you when I see you next. I sincerely hope you like the casing I’ve had made for you. It is of a sturdy, tempered alloy, and longer than most hilts. I remember you favor your staff, and it may prove more familiar to you._

_I have also provided a personal comm link. Our Force Bond is erratic, and we may not be able to connect in an emergency. If you need me, it is preprogrammed with my personal link._

_Rey, I want you to know my intentions. I want to see you become more than I could even imagine. There is a well running deep within you of strength and compassion. The Force may have only just awakened within you, but you are a true monument of the good in the galaxy. I wish to see you again, that I may fall at your feet, and worship you as you deserve. You may have come from nothing, come from nowhere, but you are everything to me. I wish that you will never discount yourself. You are a greater Jedi than any ancient master. I am honored to know you. You are not alone. We may be lightyears apart, but one day, we will be together, if you will it. Your will is stronger than the Force within you. I fear nothing but losing you._

_I am yours, Rey. Do with me what you will._

_With all my love and all my soul, I am yours, truly,_

_Ben_

Rey wiped tears from her eyes. He loved her. If she truly understood his gorgeous calligraphy, he was professing his love in the most beautiful words she had ever had given to her. 

 

The world went quiet, and Ben found himself in front of a teary eyed Rey. The moment she saw him, she propelled herself off the bunk, careful of the container, and into his arms. 

 

“Thank you,” She whispered. 

 

“Do you like it?” he asked, wrapping his arms tenderly around her. 

 

“I’ve only just read your words,” she whispered. “They were so beautiful.”

 

“They’re true.”

 

“You love me,” she said. 

 

“I do.”

 

He gave her a squeeze. 

 

“Supreme Leader,” she heard a comm crackle. 

 

He tensed and let Rey go. He hesitated, but his choice was made when the Force disconnected them. 

 

“Don’t go,” Rey whispered. 


	3. Chapter 3

Rey’s bunk was too quiet after Ben left. She turned back to her cot, and she knelt on the firm mattress. She smiled at the unrolled letter, and she set it on top of the other scrolls. She would read the others later. She still had an entire box to look through. 

 

The next thing in the box was a soft bundle of black fabric. It was the softest material she had ever touched. She let her fingers play over the fabric before picking it up and finding that it wrapped something hard. She tried to unfold the fabric, and in the low unnatural light of her bunk, she saw that the black shimmered to a rich green and back to black. She hummed in appreciation. The hard object fell from the fabric into her lap, and her heart stopped. 

 

She had found the saber hilt, and it was enchanting. It was long and elegant, longer than her forearm. The hilt was mostly a dark leather grip, but the accompanying metal was an iridescent rainbow. At just a glance, the alloy was an unremarkable silver, but as she turned the column in her hands, the silver changed to purples and greens and blues. It was like a machine’s lifeblood, like oil that shimmered in summer sunshine. She sighed as she turned and played with the perfectly balanced casing. She would have never conceived of such a beautiful hilt, but she now could never imagine her own saber having anything but this. 

 

She turned her attention reluctantly to the rest of the gifts. The fabric that had wrapped the hilt was a jacket, and she found that it was flowing and warmer than any piece of clothing she owned. The jungle planet was too warm for it at the moment, but she appreciated the beautiful warmth with so much time she had spent in the coldness of space. 

 

Below that was a box of saber pieces. There were screws and nuts and bolts and buttons and wiring and metal strips and other bits and pieces that would form a Jedi’s weapon. 

 

The bottom of the container was a collection that could only be described as Ben Solo seeing things and saying “Rey would like this.” There was a comm link in its own box in the corner, but then there was also a small medpack, ration bars in every flavor, a package of unfamiliar dried fruit, and a container titled lotion that smelled of flowers(she tried it on her tongue and decided it was not for eating).

 

She smiled at the collection, returned everything to its box, except for the scrolls and the jacket. She hugged the soft fabric to her chest and began to read the scrolls, pondering each stroke of Ben’s careful calligraphy. 

* * *

She was asleep when the Force connected them next. Ben was tired from his duties, but the moment the world went quiet, he was wide awake. Rey was cuddled with the jacket he had given her. He had thought of her the moment he had felt the material. He knew she would not have had something so soft before, and he wanted her to have every luxury. A soft article of clothing was a good start. 

 

He sat and watched her awhile, smiling at her hand which still held a piece of paper. He recognized it as his love letter. He had worked hours on those words. He had always been better with letters than with sounds. His mouth and impulses always tripped him up. 

 

Rey stirred, and his heart lept. She groggily sat up, taking in everything. She smiled at the paper and set it on top of the other rolls, which had also been untied and read carefully. She looked around, and at seeing Ben, she leaned over, wrappped her arms around his, and leaned against his shoulder. 

 

“Thank you,” She murmured, rubbing her cheek against his arm like a contented lothcat. 

 

“You’re welcome,” he returned simply, not sure how to reciprocate her sleepy affection. 

 

“What is lotion?” She murmured, butchering the pronunciation. “It tastes awful.”

 

Ben tensed then laughed, a genuine laugh deep in his belly. “You don’t eat it. It’s to soften skin, put moisture in, keeps the skin from cracking and hurting.”

 

“That sounds so nice.” She sighed and scooted closer to him, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. 

 

“I’m glad you like everything,” he offered, wanting to hear her speak. 

 

“I do,” she nodded. “I really do. The saber hilt,” she began, then sat straight up, knocking his arm from her. She dug in her pouch, pulling the two kyber crystals from it. “I hope you didn’t need to use your lightsaber,” she said softly, holding one crystal in her hand for him to take. 

 

“I haven’t,” he told her truthfully. “I’ve been busy with...managerial duties.”

 

Rey nodded, though she was looking down at the twin crystals now. He slowly reached through the bond and took the crystal. He turned it in his ungloved hand, rubbing his thumb over the pretty thing. 

 

“What are we going to do?” She whispered. “We can’t keep doing this...not with the war like it is.”

 

“We’ll have to end it.”

 

Rey looked at him suddenly. 

 

“The war,” he assured her, pressing his forehead against hers. “Not this.”

 

“Never end this.”

 

“We will have to create something new,” he murmured. “Not the First Order, not the Resistance, not the Rebel Alliance, not the Empire, not the Jedi.”

 

“How will that stop the fighting? How will that stop the pain in the galaxy?”

 

“We can’t stop pain...”

 

Rey tenderly reached up and stroked a thumb over the scar she had given him. He put a hand over hers. 

 

“I love you,” he whispered. 

 

She kissed him, softly, afraid that if either said any more, they would start fighting, start yelling, start their own battle in the midst of a much larger war, much larger than either of them. 

 

Ben pulled her close, bumping his nose against hers as he brought her to cradle her in his lap. “You’re so small,” he whispered, breaking to breathe. 

 

“You’re so big,” she laughed. 

 

He captured the laugh with his lips, and delicately ran his hand up her arm, but then stopped when he felt the scar on her upper arm. He pulled away and examined it sadly. “It’s a set of hands, reaching out…”

 

“Like we did…”Rey had had the same thought every time she saw the mark.

 

He intertwined his fingers with hers and kissed her. “You liked the casing?” He murmured.

 

She beamed and kissed him, though the smile made it difficult. “I do, very much.” She pulled back to study his face. “Did you make one for yourself?”

 

He nodded. “Not from the same material, but—“

 

The Force disconnected them, in that moment. Rey fell the distance between where Ben’s legs had been and her bunk. She felt cold now. 

 

Ben’s hand felt cold. He felt tired again. He felt tired and cold and empty. He missed her already.

 

Suddenly, his personal comm link buzzed with the tiniest bit of static, and Rey’s small voice came through the speaker. “I love you.”

 

He brought the comm to his mouth and whispered it back to her. The loneliness felt so much more manageable now. 


	4. Chapter 4

 

General Armitage Hux slunk everywhere now. The Supreme Leader, that spoiled brat of a man, took every inconvenience out on him. He shouldn’t have to withstand the constant humiliation. He was supposed to be Supreme Leader. He almost was. He stroked the blaster he know kept at his hip at all times. He would not let another opportunity slide past him. 

 

The next opportunity seemed to fall right into his lap. 

 

Kylo Ren was distracted, by whatever unseen Force Sensitive mumbo jumbo, Hux did not know, could not see, and did not care. 

 

He was speaking softly, head bowed, turned towards a viewport. Kylo Ren reached out, but then he clasped his hand into a fist. His fist dropped to his side, and he stalked away from the viewport, not noticing the General at the far end of the hall. Hux followed. 

 

As Hux turned the corner Kylo had just turned, he found the Supreme Leader halted, softly speaking into a comm link. He did not hesitate. By the time Kylo Ren knew he was there, Hux had pulled the trigger.

 

The blast slammed into Kylo’s back. He was thrown to the floor with a groan. Hux strolled over to the man. The former Supreme Leader was most definitely unconscious, though not dead yet. Hux scowled at the man’s armor, now visible through the blast mark. 

 

“Ben? Ben?” The comm link crackled. 

 

The voice stirred the man. He blearily opened his eyes and reached for the comm. Hux simply stepped out and crushed Kylo Ren’s ungloved hand beneath his heel. Ungloved, Hux noticed as Kylo groaned. He picked the comm up, and pushed the button. 

 

“Scavenger, is it?” He snarled. 

 

“No,” the girl gasped. 

 

“Should have known that our Supreme Leader was a dirty traitor.” He raised his blaster again and aimed straight for the head. “Say goodbye to your beloved Jedi,” Hux spat, firing the blaster. 

 

The girl screamed through the comm. 

 

The sense of elation in Hux’s chest fell the moment he realized that everything was frozen. He could not move. The blast was crackling just above Kylo Ren’s head. It was so close that it had singed his hair, and a few strands were starting to catch on fire. Kylo Ren looked up at him, fury in his eyes. The next moment, the blast had reversed its trajectory and collided with the ceiling. Hux fell backwards, and he couldn’t breathe. He knew the Force around his neck. 

 

“That was treason, General,” Kylo Ren glowered, his voice hoarse. He was struggling to sit up, using most of his strength to choke Hux. 

 

“Stand down, Master,” a modulated voice spoke as several dark clothed, masked knights swept down the hallway. “We will deal with Hux.” The foremost Knight of Ren raised the general to his feet, and then kneed him in the stomach, forcing the little remaining air from his chest. 

 

Kylo Ren only released General Hux when his eyes had rolled to the back of his head and the struggling stopped. He slumped forward, focusing on his own breathing, hissing at the pain of his new wound on his back. 

 

“Let’s get you to the medbay,” the knight said, nodding to another knight. The two wrapped their arms around his shoulders, and threw his arms around theirs. 

 

As they went down the hall, one of the remaining knights ignited their saber, a very short blade, and thrust it through the general’s chest. 

 

It was quiet for a moment, the knight breathing in and out. The quiet was broken by the static of a comm link, still on the floor. The knight looked up at another and back down at the comm. it went silent and then came back to life, and the pair of Knights of Ren heard the frantic tears of a young woman on the other side of the Galaxy. 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Rey screamed into the comm link, begging for Ben to answer. She desperately pleaded for any reply, dissolving into tears. She tried to reach out to him through the Force, but all she felt was the same as always. She only hoped that that meant that he wasn’t dead. 

 

The knock on her bunk door shook her from the immediate shock but threw her into a new one. How would she explain?

 

The door opened, and Finn peered in worriedly. “You missed dinner...” His eyes roved over her face and the container and the communicator in her hand. “What’s going on?”

 

Her tears flooded over her cheeks, and she couldn’t breathe. “Ben,” she managed to gasp out. She stumbled to her feet. “He was attacked.” She shook her head and Finn pulled her into his arms. 

 

“What is all this?” 

 

“I love him,” Rey admitted, promptly hiding her face in the fabric of his shirt. 

 

“Him?” Finn tensed. “Kylo Ren?”

 

“There is good inside him,” she tried to get out through sobs. “But he’s been attacked. He could be dead.”

 

“Look, I don’t understand this—.”

 

“We have to get to him,” she interrupted. She pushed away from him and stormed out of the bunk, examining the comm link. 

 

“Rey! Rey, calm down! You can’t just run straight into the First Order!”

 

Rey spun on her heel. “I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again. And you’ll come with me. I need your help.” She took his hand, storming through the base. 

 

“I can’t help you get to—.”

 

“You can and you will.”

 

“And what about when we get there? What are we going to do?”

 

“We are going to go in, make sure Ben’s okay, destroy whoever hurt him, and bring down the First Order.”

 

“How!?”

 

“However the Force guides us.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I have so much to explain to you.”

 

She said no more as they were at the door of General Organa’s headquarters. Finn though was grumbling something about how he was pretty sure that wasn’t how the Force works. She took a breath and stepped inside, tugging Finn in after her. Leia was seated, observing a young strategist explain her proposed plan. When Rey and Finn entered, Leia glanced up. She returned her attention to the strategist, and when she paused to breathe, Leia held out her hand. “I have the greatest faith in you, Beryl. I trust your plans, and I would love to hear more. I’m afraid I have a matter to attend to.” She patted Beryl’s arm and strolled over to the pair at the door. 

 

“Leia, is there somewhere private?” Rey asked. Finn noticed that her hand was trembling in his. 

 

“Of course, Rey.” Leia nodded to the door behind them, and they went down the hall to an empty board room. The long table took up most of the room, and dust took up the rest. 

 

Rey started into an explanation of everything, of how Ben and her shared a Force Bond, how he had sent her a gift—she only mentioned the comm link and the saber hilt—, and how she had heard him get attacked. She insisted that she needed to get to him, and she explained how she knew she could get his coordinates from the communicator. 

 

Leia nodded as she listened. “As much as we all want Ben back, he is still known across the galaxy as Kylo Ren. He is Supreme Leader of the First Order.” Leia Organa was an expert politician with the stoniest face when it came to hiding her true emotions, but Rey felt her immense sadness. “I cannot allow you to go. The risks are too great.” 

 

Rey felt anger rise in her chest like a bubbling spring or a raging volcano. It stopped short at her throat. There were no words for her to convince Leia with. 

 

The comm link in her hand buzzed with static. A metallic voice spoke. “Rey of Jakku. The Master of the Knights of Ren has requested that I alert you to his status. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren is in stable condition. He is being prepped to enter a comatose state in a bacta tank. He is under close supervision. He has also instructed me to stay in contact and to alert you of any changes. I am at your service, Mistress Rey.”

 

The three looked at each other. Leia nodded to Rey. She hesitantly raised the comm to her mouth and pressed the button. 

 

“Thank you.” She frowned, not knowing what to ask. 

 

There was a moment and the link crackled again. “You’re welcome.”

 

“Who is this?” Rey asked. 

 

“I am Div Ren, and I serve the Master of the Knights of Ren. If you have any need, I also serve you, under Kylo Ren’s request.”

 

Finn glared at the communicator. 

 

Rey ignored the heated gaze and pushed the button. “Thank you, Div.”

 

“Yes, Mistress.”

 

“You have my son wrapped around your finger,” Leia whispered. 

 

“I didn’t mean to...”

 

Finn stormed from the room, Leia set a hand on Rey’s shoulder. 

 


	6. Chapter 6

As the med droid examined Kylo Ren’s back, the knight of Ren removed her helmet and took a nearby seat. 

 

“What is going on, Master?” She asked. He looked over at her. She was human, dark skin, piercing amber eyes, tightly braided hair that kept beneath her helmet, impossibly high cheek bones, and a demeanor that was far too soft for her actions. 

 

“What are you referring to, Ahtu Ren?” He asked, struggling to keep conscious. 

 

“We have all been having dreams of Luke Skywalker, every single one of us. He keeps telling us of a ray and how it will destroy the Knights of Ren. He’s been telling us to turn to the light.”

 

He frowned. He had not had a single vision of Skywalker since his passing into the Force. 

 

“Div says a Ray is crying over your comm link.”

 

His eyes flicked up to his knight. 

 

“She’s been crying that she loves you.”

 

Fear filled his eyes. 

 

Ahtu laughed. “I am not here to condemn you. If you love that girl, that is none of my business.” She solemned. “But it is my business if she is sent to destroy everything we have worked for.”

 

He shook his head. “We need a new order. A new—ah!” He groaned as the droid cleaned the wound. 

 

“That is what we have been working towards. A new order. That is what the First Order is...” she shook her head. “And this ray killed Supreme Leader Snoke. If she did, she will have no trouble destroying us all.”

 

She stood and stalked over to him, leaning over to put her face inches from his face. “But it wasn’t this girl who killed Supreme Leader Snoke, was it?”  

 

“She is strong in the Force,” he assured his knight, though his face was paling with the pain. 

 

Ahtu Ren examined him, then fell to her knees, like an excited child waiting to hear a story. “She will join us?”

 

Kylo looked away. “Not yet...”

 

Ahtu slumped. “I was hoping...” She shook her head and stood. “When I had heard that Snoke was gone, I had hope. Our new order. That order you spoke of when we were young students under Master Skywalker. You can’t do it alone, and the rest of us...we’re just misfits.”

 

Kylo studied her. “Tell Div Ren to keep in contact with Rey. To let her know that I am alright.”

 

“You’re not though,” his knight returned. She set a hand on his shoulder, eying the mess of cauterized flesh spread over his back. 

 

The med droid turned its visual sensors to Ahtu. “He will need bacta treatments. His body is struggling with shock.”

 

“I’ve had worse.”

 

“You mean your face?” Ahtu bent over to look at him again. “She did that didn’t she?”

 

Kylo Ren looked blearily up at her. 

 

“And you love her.” Ahtu laughed. She shook her head. “I’ll let Div know. About keeping in touch with your Rey. Rest. I’m not going to take over if you decide to become one with the Force.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben has a heart to heart.

“Hey, Kid.” 

 

“Kriff.”

 

“I’d say watch your language, but you learned that one from me.”

 

Ben Solo looked at his father. Han looked younger than he remembered. They were in the Millennium Falcon, of all places!

 

“Luke sent me,” Han said, stuffing hands into his pockets. “He said you needed some help. Said you wouldn’t listen to him.”

 

“I should have stopped listening to him long before I did.”

 

Han laughed. “Did I ever tell you how he saved my life because he didn’t listen to his teacher? Took off in the middle of some lesson, I remember him telling me, because he listened to the Force instead of some ancient Jedi.”

 

He gave no answer. He wanted to be angry with his father. He wanted to be angry at Luke. He wanted to scream and lash out. Instead, he felt a tired calm in his soul.

 

“Look, Ben, I know I wasn’t the best, and I’m sorry. I hope I helped you, back on Starkiller. I wanted to bring you back,” the words caught in Han’s throat, “to Leia.”  

 

Ben felt his soul grow weary. “It’s too late now.”

 

“It’s not, Ben. I told you I’d help you. I need to help you. You were better than me. You were always better. You were the kindest child. You were smart. You remind me of Leia, all the time. I should have been there more, for you.” He sighed. “Look, Ben, the reason I’m here is because Luke saw some vision of the future where the Knights of Ren are destroyed, you along with them.”

 

Ben looked down, trying to focus on the durasteel flooring. 

 

“Now old Ben, the old man you’re named after, has been pestering me, too. Saying that you’re going to bring balance to the Force, you and Rey.”

 

At her name, Ben grew soft. “Balance.”

 

“You love the girl, don’t you?”

 

When Ben didn’t answer, Han laughed. “You really do.”

 

As if his thinking of her summoned her, a vision of her, as clear as any other time the Force had connected them, appeared. She was holding tight onto the comm link, running her thumbs over the sides. “I told you,” she insisted to someone unseen, “there is still good in him.”

 

“She loves you, too.”

 

“We can’t be together,” Ben sighed wistfully, taking steps towards her. 

 

“Not until there’s balance, at least that’s what the old man said.”

 

“Why did they all send you to talk to me? I—.”

 

“What you did brought you closer to coming back than anything anyone could have said or done. I do know that. I told you I would do anything to help you. Dying was a part of that.”

 

That brought Ben to a trembling mess. He turned back to his father, and he threw his arms around him, stuffing his face into his shoulder. He was once again a child in his father’s arms, something he remembered happening only when he was very small. Through the powers that be, he was a small child, and father and son both cherished the small moment the Force had given them. 

 

“You’re better than I could ever hope to be, Ben. You’re going to do great things for the Galaxy. You’ve already made me proud.” 

 

Ben’s face was covered in tears. His face was soaked. His face was wet. His eyes opened, and he was in the bacta tank. 

 


	8. Chapter 8

Rey sat with Leia, recounting the argument she had had with Finn earlier that day. She spoke about how they had become friends and how he had been the first person to come back for her. She could understand why he would be angry that she was in love with the enemy. She could understand that Kylo Ren was frightening and violent. 

 

“But he’s not with me,” she lamented. “He’s always soft, gentle, cautious even around me. I hated him too. He kidnapped me, fought me. But he hurt Finn so much more than he hurt me, in the same battle. And now I love him.” Rey set her elbows on her knees and looked down at the floor. 

 

Leia rubbed her back. “We don’t always choose who we love.”

 

“But we choose what we do.” 

 

Leia nodded. “I understand. Our choices determine who we are. And you love the man who treats you softly. You love him because of his actions.”

 

“You still see him as your son.”

 

“I will always see him as my son. He may have done monstrous things, and I’m saddened because I remember the little boy who felt so deeply. I remember the little boy who gave me flowers and chased after his father. He had such great potential, and everyone failed him.”

 

“Do you really think I can bring him back?”

 

“Only if you do it out of love. It has to be for you and for him. You can’t let the nobility of doing something for the greater good get in the way of your connection with him. At the end of the day, it won’t matter to you that you created some new grand government or led a rebellion. Those are things that I’ve done my entire life. I’ve led rebellions. I’ve tried to create a better galaxy. I can say I’ve done great things. That is who I am. I saw you after Crait. You were a hero, but you weren’t a hero for the sake of being a hero of the galaxy. You were there to save the people you loved. There are heros who fight for the greater good. Holdo was one. She always had the larger picture in her mind. Luke tried to be, but he wasn’t one to be a legend. He cared for people too much. He tried to be too much for too many people. Everyone loved Luke. He wasn’t the Galaxy’s hero. He was his father’s hero. He was my hero and Han’s hero. You are very much like Luke. Focus on the one, and you will save him. You can’t save the whole galaxy, but you can save Ben.”

 

“What if he doesn’t want to be saved?”

 

“Then love him despite that.”

 

There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” Leia called. 

 

The door slid open to find a slightly panicked looking Poe. “Have you seen Finn?”

 

Rey shook her head, and Leia rose to her feet. 

 

“What’s this about, Poe?”

 

“There’s a ship missing, and Finn missing, and my droid missing.”

 

“Finn isn’t a pilot.” Rey shot to her feet. “He can’t steer anything. He wouldn’t take a ship.”

 

“C3P0 said he saw Finn in the hangar. I can’t find him now. And if he has BB-8, the droid can fly for him.”

 

“So BB-8 stole a ship?” Rey asked, hands on her hips. 

 

“I don’t know! I’m trying to find out!”

 

Leia sighed. “There is surveillance footage in the hangar. We’ll find out where that ship went.”

 

Leia led them to the headquarters and had a young man pull up the footage. 

 

The screen showed the same day to day activities of pilots working on ships and taking out squadrons for practice flights. As they moved at double speed, they saw a little orange and white blur speed through the hangar. 

 

“Slow it down,” Poe shouted out. 

 

They saw BB-8 weaving between pilots and ships to Poe’s own ship. Rey now understood why he was so worried since only he was allowed to even touch it. Running up behind BB-8 was a little engineer with chubby cheeks and a look of determination. 

 

“Rose?” Poe looked at the others. 

 

“What is she doing?” Leia wondered, studying the footage. 

 

BB-8 set himself into the ship, opening up the hatch for Rose Tico to clamber into the pilot seat. As soon as she was in, the hatch closed, and the ship started moving out of the hangar. A few people glanced up, but went back to their own business when they saw it was Dameron‘s ship. 

 

Within the next moment, oblivious to what had just happened, Finn strolled into the hangar and walked out through the hangar doors, looking like he needed to blow off steam. 

 

The comm link buzzed on Rey’s hip. “Excuse me,” she said, leaving the populated area. 

 

Poe looked back at Leia. “Permission to go track down Rose and my droid before they do something stupid?”

 

Leia rolled her eyes and nodded. 

 

Poe took off to borrow a new ship. 

 

Leia sighed and resigned herself to watching the work of this new generation try to figure out what to do with themselves. 


	9. Chapter 9

Rey found an empty room, and she leaned against the door. “Yes, Div?”

 

“Mistress Rey, Lord Ren is waking up. He is still in bacta, and he has some time left before he is released, but his condition is looking well.”

 

“Thank you, Div.”

 

There was a pause, then a woman spoke through the communicator. “Rey, this is Ahtu Ren. I wanted to speak with you about Master Kylo Ren.”

 

“I suppose…” Rey returned hesitantly.

 

“He is clearly enamored with you. I do not care that he has chosen you. I encourage it. I do not encourage him to abandon all he has worked for for you. He has other responsibilities. He has power to make grand changes to the galaxy. My responsibility is to ensure that he is doing what he must.”

 

Rey looked down and frowned. “He makes his own choices. I wouldn’t worry about me distracting him from whatever you want him to do. He will do whatever he pleases.”

 

“Yes, I know he does, now that he is his own master.” There was a pause. “Mistress Rey, I do not know what Lord Ren has said to you before, but I would be honored if you joined us, the Knights of Ren.”

 

Rey did not answer her. She noticed that her knuckles had gone white as she gripped the comm link. 

 

“It is merely a request, but I would think you should consider it.”

 

“I will not betray my friends,” she growled into the link. 

 

“You may bring them if you wish and if they will come. We are all friends here. Div says he likes you already.”

 

She heard the murmur of Div’s metallic voice in the background. 

 

“I will not join you now. I just want to know that Ben is okay.”

 

“Ben? He’s been having you call him by his dead name?”

 

“I chose to use that name.”

 

“And he does not argue.”

 

“He does not.”

 

“I see.” There was a tense pause between them, and Ahtu Ren spoke again. “I hope we speak again soon, Mistress Jedi Rey. You have done a great deal of good for our Lord Ren.” 

* * *

Rey was nearly asleep that night when she felt a warm body materialize next to her. In the minimal light of her bunk, she saw Ben, lowering his body to whatever bed he had. 

 

“Hello Rey,” he whispered.

 

“Hello Ben,” she returned, sliding across her own bed to be next to him. “Are you alright?”

 

He took a few breaths. “I’m healing properly,” he informed her. “Have my knights kept you informed?”

 

“Yes, Div has done a good job.”

 

“Div is our youngest knight,” he told her with a strange surge of pride Rey had never heard in his voice before. “Only a little younger than you. Then there’s Kit Ren. She’s a thief. Can’t leave anything laying around her.” 

 

Rey intertwined their fingers and set her other hand on his chest. It was bare, except for the bandages that wrapped around his diaphragm. 

 

“Then Urj Ren. He’s twilek. Snoke was inistent that he and his sister Peyka Ren were no use to the Knights.”

 

Rey quirked an eyebrow at his ramblings. “Are you on medication?”

 

He hummed an affirmative. “Keeps the pain away. I’m supposed to be resting.”

 

Rey snuggled closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. “You’re so relaxed. I haven’t seen you like this before.”

 

He laughed low in his stomach then twinged. 

 

“Does that hurt?”

 

“No, at least I can’t feel it.” He wiggled. “My body says it does. My brain can’t feel it.”

 

“You should get some sleep. I was just about to.”

 

“I don’t want you to leave,” he said pathetically. “I want you to stay and to stay awake and to keep hugging me.” He laid his cheek against her forehead. “I want to kiss you.”

 

Rey pressed a kiss to his shoulder. 

 

He hummed. “Or more if you’d like.”

 

“You’re still bandaged. I don’t think your body would like you if you did much more than sit up.”

 

“I’d like to do more.”

 

“You can’t even laugh without hurting yourself.”

 

“It would be worth it if I could keep kissing you.”

 

“Go to sleep, Ben. You’re on drugs.”

 

“I will not. You’re going to be my princess.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I’m a prince. To a dead world called Alderaan but still.” He wiggled to get his lips to her forehead. “When we get married that makes you a princess.”

 

“When we get married?”

 

Ben groaned. “That was going to be a surprise. I forgot I hadn’t asked you yet.”

 

“What if I said no?”

 

“I wasn’t asking you if you wanted the galaxy,” he said, finishing with a yawn. “Just me. Because I can’t ever see your surroundings,” he pressed another kiss to her forehead. “Just you.”

 

“Ben,” Rey tried to cut in. 

 

“And I will keep my promise. You won’t be alone. Ever again.”

 

“Ben.”

 

“I love you, Rey.”

 

“Ben, I won’t marry you.”

 

The words rammed into his soul. 

 

“I can’t marry you. Not with everything how it is. I will not marry you.”

 

Ben couldn’t feel anything except panic.

 

“I love you more deeply than anything, but I cannot drop everything in my life to...” She didn’t know what she woulld be dropping, but until now, she had had nothing to leave behind. Now she had friends, people who cared about her. 

 

He slowly sat up, shaking her off. “Water,” he said softly to a nearby medicdroid. As he turned away from her, she saw the healed edges of the large sweltering scar across his back above the torso bandage. He bent over, hand in his hair, other arm wrapped around his abdomen. She saw him take a cup, and the liquid inside rippled from the tremors of his hand. 

 

“One day, we may be able to have that,” Rey whispered. “But not now.”

 

“You’re all I want,” he returned, raising the cup to his lips. He was hardly able to get a mouthful before he shattered the cup. He cried out, hold his hand and his mouth. 

 

Rey sprang to her feet and went around to face him. His hand was bloody, and a stream of red dripped down his chin. His chest and cheeks and arms were wet. “Shhhhh,” She hushed, taking his hand in hers. She closed her eyes and focused on the Force coursing through the galaxy, through all the space between them. She swiftly ran the currents through his sliced hand, working it as a string in fabric. She felt his blood drip down her own hands but continued her ministrations. She felt the last bit of skin pull together, and she dropped his hand so she could cup his face and rub her thumb over his slashed bottom lip. He winced. She now saw that her words had brought him to tears. His eyes were red and puffy, and his injured lip made his pout thicker than she remembered. She disregarded these details to focus on his injury. The same process went quickly. She was soon only cradling his face in her hands, staring into his big brown eyes in the low light. 

 

“I love you,” she told him. “That will not change.”

 

The Force Bond closed, leaving her hands empty and bloodied. She sighed and left her bunk to wander down the hall to the communal refresher. A door opened behind her and she glanced over her shoulder. 

 

Finn glanced up at her. “What—.” He shook his head, deciding he did not actually want to know why she was covered in blood and retreated back into his bunk. 

 

She frowned at that. He had been missing earlier. She washed herself as she tried to remember what exactly had happened earlier. She remembered Poe worrrying about Finn. She remembered Rose had taken Poe’s fighter and BB-8. She dried herself off and returned to Finn’s bunk, but decided that she was tired of trying to convince him that she wasn’t in trouble and went to her own bed. 


	10. Chapter 10

“Thanks for grabbing those coordinates for me, BB-8,” Rose said, watching the autonav guide the ship to the flag ship of the First Order. 

 

BB-8 beeped at her. 

 

“Because we win by saving what we love.”

 

Another quisitive set of beeps. 

 

“Yes this is a rescue mission.”

 

BB-8 started beeping faster than Rose could translate. 

 

“Hey! I’m not doing this alone! We’re meeting up with a friend.”

 

As if on cue, Poe Dameron’s voice came over the radio. “Black Leader to Rose Tico, Repeat, Black Leader to Rose Tico. What are you doing out here, Rose?” 

 

Rose sunk in her seat. “BB-8, can we lose him?”

 

There were doubtful beeps. 

 

“It can’t be that hard!” She perked up and took the ship off autonav. 

 

“Rose Tico this is Poe Dameron. Get back to base. That is an order.”

 

“BB-8, we’re gonna bring him along, ‘kay?”

 

The droid protested and even started to insist that she turn around. 

 

“Just come on, we’ve got Maz to meet up with.”

 

* * *

 

“Master Ren,” one of his knights spoke through a comm on the bedside table. 

 

Ahtu Ren picked the communicator up. “This is Ahtu Ren. Lord Ren is resting.”

 

Ben looked over at her. 

 

“Yes, there are Resistance fighters that were trying to sneak onto the ship. There’s a girl saying she’s on a rescue mission for Ben Solo.”

 

Ben sat up, immediately groaning. 

 

“I will come view the prisoners,” Ahtu decided. 

 

“Can you holo me in to see them?” Ben asked, trying to push through the haze of the medication. 

 

“Set up a holo,” Ahtu relayed back. 

 

“Yes Ahtu Ren.”

 

She left the room, and Ben let himself wonder why Rey suddenly decided to come “rescue” him, with a group of other Resistance fighters. Had she gathered others who cared for him? Who would care for him enough to go with Rey into danger?

 

Who loves Rey enough to protect her on a mission such as this?

 

Jealousy rose in his chest. 

 

Ahtu Ren reappeared with a small holocomm. She set it on the bedside table and angled it so it captured both her and Ben in the view. She pressed a few buttons and a masked knight came into sight. 

 

“Urj, you’re too close to the viewport.” Ahtu sighed as the knight set the holocomm down and angled it to capture the ragtag collection of Resistance fighters. 

 

Ben scanned them. There was the pilot he had interrogated. The droid he had been looking for was immobilized in a box. A short young woman with hair flipping up scowled at the knight that held her arms tight behind her. A man in a disheveled suit with a shattered red pin on his lapel eyed the doorways. The last of the group was a small ancient orange woman with large glasses that Ben remembered from a handful of trips his father had taken him on. 

 

“Where’s Rey?” Ben asked. 


	11. Chapter 11

“Where’s Rey?” The Supreme Leader of the First Order whispered as he surveyed a ragtag team of Resistance fighters who had come to ‘rescue him.’

 

Everyone heard him. 

 

“She’s not here. We came to bring you to her!” The small struggling girl shouted. 

 

He studied them, mind struggling to piece together what that meant. Next thing he knew, a sleeping Rey appeared behind him through the Force. 

 

“Why would we hand over the Supreme Leader to you?” Ahtu Ren sneered. She was a terrifying presence with her helmet and modulated growl. 

 

“We believe he will come willingly!”

 

Ben had stood at that moment, promptly doubling over as he pulled a still healing muscle in his back. Ahtu forced him back onto the bed. His motion bothered Rey, and she blearily opened her eyes. She noticed him beside her, and she threw an arm around his chest, snuggling back to sleep. 

 

Ahtu Ren gasped and stepped backwards. She heard several exclamations from the holocomm behind her. Ben looked up at Ahtu. 

 

“You see her, too?” He whispered, calmer than Ahtu had ever seen him. 

 

She turned off the holocomm. “What is this?”

 

“Who’s that, Ben?” Rey whispered, not really awake. 

 

“The Force,” he said to Ahtu. He wrapped his arm around Rey’s shoulder. “That is Ahtu,” he whispered to Rey, kissing her forehead.

 

“Ahtu wants me to join the Knights,” Rey murmured. “Ahtu doesn’t mind me loving you.”

 

Ahtu reached out, but Ben caught her hand. “Let her sleep. She’s not fully awake.”

 

“Is she really here?”

 

At that, Rey furrowed her brow and opened her eyes. They went wide. 

 

“I’m here.” She sat up and stumbled off Ben’s medi-cot. She touched the cot and gasped. “I’m here. What am I doing here!? Ben! What did you do?”

 

He slowly sat up, careful of his back. 

 

Ahtu Ren approached her, and Rey stepped backwards. 

 

“I will not hurt you.” She released her helmet and held it in the crook of her harm. “I am curious.”

 

She gave a nervous laugh, considering she was only wearing what she slept in, a thin set of a top and shorts. “Me too.”

 

Ben held out his hand to stop his knight. “Leave her be. Neither of us know what is going on.”

 

Rey looked between the pair. “I didn’t do this.”

 

“It’s the Force,” Ben repeated, leaning back. He looked at Rey, frowning himself. “Why did you send a group of Resistance fighters to rescue me?” 

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“There are four Resistance fighters and a droid currently detained for trying to sneak aboard and rescue me from the First Order to bring me to you.” 

 

“Kriff,” Rey groaned. “One’s a girl, dark hair?” She asked, tracing flipping bangs around her own face to specify. 

 

He nodded. “And the best pilot in the galaxy,” he said sourly, “and the droid, white and orange BB unit with a selenium drive,” he was clearly mocking her now. 

 

Rey tensed, but before any of her anger could surface, a med droid entered the room. 

 

“Scheduled medication,” the droid announced. The chest cavity opened up and the tray inside cycled to the appropriate injection. 

 

Ben ground his jaw, but sat up and offered his upper arm, which Rey now saw was black and blue from other previous injections. 

 

“Where are they?” Rey asked. 

 

Ahtu raised an eyebrow. “Detained. They are safe, for the moment.”

 

“Release them. Instruct them to return to the Resistance.” 

 

Ahtu shook her head. “They are enemies to the First Order.”

 

“I don’t give a—,” she stopped herself. 

 

Ben stood, setting a hand on Rey’s shoulder to steady himself. “They will be safe in our—“

 

They were now standing in Rey’s bunk, a frantic Finn staring at them in the open doorway. 

 

There were blaster shots, one hitting Ben’s chest, one ricocheting off the wall and into Rey’s side. They fell to the ground in a heap. 

 

Finn stared in horror. “What have I done?” He whispered, running for help. 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

The first thing Rey heard when she awoke was the sobbing of a man. The next was the hum of medical equipment. She took a deep breath, and she was immediately pulled into a hug. She smelled Finn’s familiar smell, and she smiled, hugging him back. 

 

“I’m sorry, Rey, I’m so sorry,” he sobbed into her ear. 

 

It took a moment, but the moment she remembered, she shrieked, “You shot me!”

 

He squeezed her, pressing his face into her shoulder. 

 

“Where’s Ben?” 

 

She felt his muscles tense. “Surgery,” he whispered. “Your fast action with the bacta strips saved his life.” 

 

Rey hugged Finn tighter. She vaguely remembered the panicked search through the box Ben had sent her for the bacta pack. 

 

“I’m really sorry, Rey,” he said again, and she felt his trembling tears. 

 

She nodded against his shoulder. “What about Poe and Rose? Have they come back?”

 

His sobs grew rougher, and it felt like he was holding on to her as tight as he was trying to hold himself together. 

 

“What happened?”

 

“Finn, you should go rest.” Leia stepped inside. Rey saw that her eyes were red from crying, too, though she can’t remember ever having seen the General cry before. 

 

Finn was having none of that, hardly moving from the soul source of comfort he had left. 

 

Leia rubbed his back and sat beside him on the bed. She looked up at Rey. “Thank you for bringing my son back. I don’t know how or why but it is good to see him again. We unfortunately have to return him to the First Order. The Knights of Ren are requesting this for the safe return of Poe Dameron, Rose Tico, Maz Kanata, Master Codebreaker, and BB-8. I have informed them of Ben’s condition. They are insisting that we give them our coordinates to deliver medical assistance.”

 

Leia handed Rey the comm link, and she stood, nudging Finn. He stood hesitantly, trying to steel himself. “Right. I should get some sleep.”

 

Leia nodded, and she guided Finn out, closing the door after herself. 

 

Rey cradled the comm link. She pushed the button. “This is Rey.” Her voice sounded weak. 

 

The comm responded promptly. “Rey, this is Div, I can’t keep the prisoners safe much longer. They’re saying they should just kill them. Rey, they know they don’t have anything to barter for Kylo Ren. I’m afraid they’ll do something rash.”

 

“I’ll come. I will come in his place. Only if you transfer the prisoners to the Resistance now. I will come, and I will stay with the Knights.”

 

“Mistress Rey—“

 

“I have to. Ben is in surgery right now. I will come if you hand over the Resistance fighters, and if you send the most experienced doctors the First Order has with them.” 

 

“I can’t authorize that.”

 

“Then get me Ahtu Ren. She will listen to me.”

 

“She is...dealing with the others.”

 

“Kriff, just get me her. She wants me as a Knight. I will be a knight if she lets them go. I am worth more than all them.”

 

“As is Master Ren. It’s not Ahtu that I’m worried about. It’s Kit and Urj and Belak.” 

 

“I have not met them.”

 

“No, but they know they have nothing to bargain with. These fighters are not important enough to reason a trade.”

 

“Not for your Supreme Leader. But it is enough of a trade for me. Those doctors tip it equal. You may not get Kylo Ren back but you will get me.”

 

Div’s end was quiet. “I will send the doctors first. Once you come we will be able to send the prisoners.”

 

* * *

  


Div Ren hurried towards the room he knew the rest of the Knights were arguing in. He could feel it. He could feel the anger and conflict and waves of contention. The ripples in the Force were nothing compared to what he encountered when he opened the door. The three masked knights of Ren were coming on all sides of Ahtu Ren, who was unmasked. She was a beauty as she parried and spun and somersaulted away from each blow. They knew each other too well. They had sparred together too much. The fight here was to the death, to the moment that any single one of them made a mistake. Div centered himself and focused on the one technique he had always coveted of his master, the strength to stop action through the Force. He held out both hands and in a blink, the four knights were trembling, trying to break through the energy binding them to their positions. 

 

“Mistress Rey is surrendering herself for the prisoners and a set of doctors to service Lord Ren.”

 

Belak Ren yelled, breaking the hold. “I will not allow his weakness here!” He force pushed the others away, breaking the hold on them, sending them sprawling backwards. 

 

Div squared his shoulders. “She will come and she will become one of us.”

 

Ahtu gasped. “And Kylo?”

 

“There is no deal for Kylo. He is in serious condition.”

 

“We already have no bartering power, and we are giving what we have for an untrained runt?” Urj demanded. 

 

“We should let him die,” Peyka insisted. 

 

Ahtu took a hold of Peyka’s upper arm. “Do you have no loyalty?”

 

Peyka pulled away. “What loyalty is there! Since Kylo killed Snoke, we can’t trust him. Who’s to say I can trust you?”

 

“Kylo killed Leader Snoke?” Kit whispered. 

 

“Don’t be an idiot,” Belak snapped, looming over the lithe young woman. “Do you really think that trash picker killed the most powerful force user of our time?”

 

“Of course I do,” Kit said steadily, lighting her saber straight through his stomach. 

 

“Kit Ren!” Ahtu shouted. 

 

Urj jumped over the collapsing corpse of his fellow knight, aiming to attack Kit from behind. Peyka called out to him, but Kit had already propelled her dead comrade over her head to act as a shield against Urj’s onslaught. 

 

Div once again tried his new skill, pulling Kit and Ahtu out of the decimated conference room, and sealed the blast door closed. 

 

“You’ve done well in your training,” Ahtu commended, already turning and sprinting towards the holding block. “Div, alert Mistress Rey that we are coming to her, no trade required.”

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, kinda grapic descriptions of people insides.

“We’re coming to you, no trade required,” Div nearly yelled into the comm, startling Rey as she was working her way out of the med cot. She wobbled to the floor, grabbing the comm. 

 

“What?” She gasped, rubbing her still tender side. 

 

“We’re coming to you—“ There was a crash, and the comm went silent. 

 

Rey tensed and jammed the button several times. “Div.”

 

The communicator buzzed from the button being held, but all that came through was the faint sounds of running and clatter. 

 

She stood, sure that if she tried to speak again she would surely be distracting them from something life threatening. She weakly rubbed her side as she shimmied into her pants and threw on a loose vest. She couldn’t just sit there and wait to get better. Sitting still never meant getting better. It only meant a sooner death. She made her way out of her room and tried to reach out through the Force to see if she could find her Ben. 

 

She could feel him. Not far. He was surely unconscious. The first time the Force connected them after the Battle at Crait, he was asleep. He didn’t sleep well, and though he was very asleep, he moved and murmured constantly. She watched him for a while, wondering how much he could sleep when everyone, even those who worked with him, wanted him dead. Except her. She had stared and marveled at his face. She had found it interesting, ethereal, even, when he removed his helmet the first time. She had called him a creature in a mask. Removing his helmet had proved her words; he was a creature, but not something horribly disfigured and alien. He was nearly angelic. When she had sliced his face on Starkiller, she was satisfied that she had ruined his elegance. Then, the first time the Force had connected them, she saw the scar she had given him. He was more the creature, but instead, she saw more emotion behind his face. All that emotion was tenderness for her. 

 

While her mind was lost in her memories, her feet followed the call of the Force. The room she found herself in was loud and chaotic and filled with anger and fear and resentment. Ben was unconscious, a mask over his face, regulating his breathing, feeding him medication to keep him numb. The few medics the base had were working on him, and they were the ones angry and afraid. They knew who this was. They knew the pain he had caused. They knew they had the power to end his life, and they had been ordered to save it. 

 

One looked up at her, and she saw the anger in his eyes. 

 

“You should be resting, Rey,” he said urgently. 

 

There was no secret that he had been found with her. She was no longer a hero. She was now suspected as having a tryst with the Enemy. She was as good as a traitor, but she was under the protection of the General. 

 

“Let me help,” she pleaded, her voice hoarse. She remembered Ben tending to her burnt hands. She knew she could help heal his...

 

Her eyes had fallen on his chest which was open and had tubes and tools and hands inside. His heart was visible, trembling with each weak slow heartbeat. The organs were all red and angry and scarred. She had had a piece of meat once back on Jakku, and when she had tried to cook it, it had ended up charred to a crisp and hardly edible. The blaster fire had charred his skin, and the organs were blistering, reminding her all too much of that slab of poorly cooked meat. 

 

“We are doing all we can do,” the med insisted. 

 

She shook her head and strode past him. She tried to at least. The med caught her around her middle to move her out of the room. She elbowed him and flipped him off of her, crying out as she stretched her side and pulled at the healing flesh.  

 

“You need to rest!” The female medic shouted at her. 

 

The medic Rey had thrown was back on his feet, and Rey glared at him. He made no move towards her, and she moved to Ben’s side. She felt tears on her cheeks, but she didn’t care for herself in that moment. 

 

She put her hands over his open chest and closed her eyes. She was slow and delicate as she felt for the wounds and encouraged new cells to grow. The burns were bad, and she could tell that the immense amount of heat had started to cook his insides. Much of the tissue was already dead. She begged to Force to save this man. She begged the Force to use her own Life Force to help him. She tugged on the muscles, on the tissue, on the little midichlorians that inhabited his body. 

 

A hand squeezed her shoulder, bringing her out of her hyperfocus. She looked up at Leia.

 

“Show me what to do,” Leia implored.

 

Rey nodded shakily, trying to push her knowledge from her own mind to Leia’s over the Force, because that was they way she learned it, from Ben’s mind. 

 

Leia made her way to the other side of the bed, nodding to each doctor. One immediately supplied a chair and set her cane against the bed. “Thank you,” She murmured in her low voice. 

 

Rey felt Leia set to work, copying Rey’s instructions. Leia was untrained, but strong. She wasn’t sloppy, only unsure of herself. The realization surprised Rey. She had always thought of the General as strong and confident and bright. She was tired and nervous now. 

 

Slowly, another force signature entered the room. Rey gradually lifted her eyes to a man, nearly as beautiful as her Ben. He was dressed in ancient Jedi robes like what she had met Luke in. This man looked so much like Ben, but even more like Leia in front of her. The Force Ghost had appeared behind Leia, and he approached them, smiling at Rey, but sobering as he reached the bed. He reached out to touch Leia’s shoulder, but thought better of it. Leia seemed to turn to duristeel, and only glanced up when the man’s hands came into her view. 

 

“Who are you?” A medic whispered. 

 

The Force Ghost looked up and smiled at him with the surest eyes. “I’m only here to help my grandson.”

 

Rey took a breath in and out. She had gone lightheaded. 

 

“Take her back to bed,” the apparition commanded. Leia echoed the command. 

 

Rey was failing fast, but she focused all the Force she could, pushing it from her hands to his heart. She stared at the trembling muscle that had stopped its throbbing. She stared at it, dared it to move, to expand, to do anything. It did. It started beating as strong as she had ever felt his heart beat for her. She realized that she was clutching the edge of the bed now. She let go, taking a step back, and falling. What little energy she had had she had given to the man who held her heart. She just hoped she had done enough to save his. 

 

There were arms around her, and she was being set down on something soft, and she was asleep. 

 

She had done what she could. She had seen his grandfather. He had come to save him. What grace would he give Ben? 

* * *

Leia continued to minister the Force to her son’s chest as the Force Ghost of Anakin Skywalker moved waves of the Force to encompass the trio, leaving the medics to stare at the scene, no sound. 

 

“He will make it, Leia,” Anakin assured her. “The Force has greater things for him to accomplish.”

 

“Just help me save my son,” she whispered. “Like Luke says you saved him.”

* * *

“Master Ren’s saber!” Kit Ren whispered as she and Ahtu and Div made their way to the holding cells.

 

“If you can get it, go get it. We will not wait for you,” Ahtu instructed. 

 

Div stared after Kit as they parted ways.

 

“Div, focus.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

“You have to get the meds and the ship. I can get the resistance fighters.”

 

“I’m sure they’ve already been secured.”

 

“Which is why I’m going.”

 

Div nodded. “See you on the other side.”

 

“On the other side.”


	14. Chapter 14

Ben opened his eyes blearily to the harsh medical lighting. There were so many Force signatures around him. He hadn’t felt so many since...

 

His head throbbed, and he groaned.

 

“Welcome back,” a young man’s voice reached him.

 

“Div?”

 

“Ben!” Rey called, suddenly clutching his hand and touching his shoulder.

 

“Rey,” he said with a smile, awkwardly wrapping an arm around her. He was comforted by her smell and warmth and presence.

 

Another hand touched his other shoulder, and he looked up into his mother’s eyes. He swallowed and reached up to touch her face. “I thought...you...were dead...” he whispered.

 

She held his hand against her cheek and smiled at him. She had no words.

 

“It is good to see you conscious,” Ahtu Ren said from the end of the bed.

 

Ben suddenly panicked, putting together that none of these people should ever be in a room with each other. “Where am I?”

 

“Resistance Base. An unmarked moon.” Kit Ren chirped. “We aren’t allowed to know the coordinates.”

 

“I’m fine with that,” Div added.

 

“They’re heroes,” a small woman, the one who had tried to sneak onto his ship and ‘rescue’ him, said from a corner. “They’re allowed to stay.”

 

“What happened?” Ben asked.

 

“You got shot point blank with a blaster once the Force decided you needed to be in my bunk instead of your medbay.” Rey kissed his cheek before moving away so he could see everyone in the room.

 

“I killed Belak!” Kit chirped from her stool, cradling her mask to her chest. Ben didn’t remember the last time he saw her wild blonde curls. She was in her mid-twenties, but she was still so childlike.

 

“You did...?”

 

“He and Urj and Peykah were not cooperative. Urj and Peykah are now in control of the First Order,” Ahtu filled in.

 

Ben looked back to Rey. “I don’t understand.”

 

Rey laughed and shook her head. “They have decided to join me, Ahtu, Kit, and Div,” she nodded to each knight. “They are no longer Knights of Ren...as you’re no longer Kylo Ren...?”

 

Ahtu blinked as the situation clicked in her brain, and then smiled.

 

“Who said I’m not still—“

 

Rey kissed him full on the mouth. Kit and Rose giggled, making Rey giggle, too, against his lips.

 

“I say,” Rey told him. She moved to whisper in his ear. “You know I can take whatever I want. I’ve taken your knights. I’m sure I can take you.”

 

His ears and nose grew red, and Leia coughed from the other side of the bed, reminding them that they were not alone.

 

“We will fill you in on the details, but for now, you are stable and awake and need rest,” Leia instructed. “We are still not sure of the nature of the Force that decided that you two needed to be here and connected, but now you are. I’m glad you’re back, Ben. I’ve missed you.”

 

Ben reached out, trying to sit up. Leia saw this and leaned over to wrap her arms around her son.

 

“There is so much good In you,” She whispered, kissing his cheek and running her fingers through his hair to push it back behind his ear. “I can’t wait to see it unfold.”

 

He smiled at his mother, already feeling tears in his eyes.

 

“Alright, give him some rest!” Rose shouted, tugging on Kit’s sleeve and taking Finn’s hand to lead him out. Ben tried to track all those who had waited for him to wake, but they were leaving before he could remember each name for each face.

 

It was finally just him and Rey and a little BB unit.

 

“Go on BB-8,” Rey ushered. “Poe needs you more than we do.”

 

The droid bumped her shins softly and beeped.

 

“No, I’ll be fine. He loves me, BB-8. He’s not going to hurt me.“

 

The droid’s viewport turned to Ben, and a little compartment opened up, and a tool arm flipped out, lighting a little flame.

 

“You’ve been spending too much time with R2,” Ben scowled.

 

Rey laughed and went to open the door for the droid. “Go on before you get in trouble“

 

The droid rolled out, finally leaving them alone. Rey scrambled up on the bed with Ben and set her head on his chest, careful of the still healing wounds.

 

“They’re enamored with you,” he hummed. “My knights.”

 

“They’re my knights now,” she laughed.

 

He broke into a grin. “It seems that they are.”

 

She sighed and reached out to hold the hand that wasn’t wrapped around her, resting it on his chest. “Everyone has had their own adventure, and I’m sure I haven’t heard all of them,” she told him. “But I...saw the Force Ghost of Anakin Skywalker. He helped me and your mother save your life...”

 

Ben stared up at the ceiling, sorting through his feelings about that. “What did he look like?”

 

“Like you, except lighter hair, and different eyes, and a little bit like a holo, like I could see through him.”

 

“Force Ghosts are like that...”

 

“He even had a scar over his eye, like you, though yours is…” She shook her head. "He didn’t speak much but he did say that he was there to save his grandson. He was proud of you, Ben.”

 

He squeezed her in his arm. “How did you save me?”

 

“Force Healing. I learned it from you once. It may have been your notes. My life Force.” She pressed her forehead to his chin and focused on what she had done in the heat of the moment when she could only see his trembling, broken, scarred heart.

 

His breathing hitched at the sight in her mind.

 

“It reminded me of your kyber crystal.”

 

“You’ve healed my heart,” he murmured, kissing her forehead.

 

Her cheeks grew red, and his hand trailed over her side until it grazed her still healing blaster wound. She yelped and cringed away from his hand.

 

He looked down at her in worry.

 

“I got hit with a ricochet,” she told him softly. “They say I’m healing fine but it still hurts.”

 

Ben loosened his hand from hers and gently pushed her top up to examine the bandaged area. He was twisting awkwardly, and Rey sat up and turned so that he could see it properly. He placed his hand flush against the bandage and already started to focus when she pulled away.

 

She shook her head. “You need to rest.”

 

He shook his head. “You healed me when you needed to rest. I can help you.”

 

She shook her head again.

 

He growled low in his throat. “Come here.”

 

She shook her head again and turned. She paused and spoke. “I do believe that you have changed and your mother believes and your...my knights, but there are many who don’t. You’re not allowed out of this room. There’s a guard just outside. I’ll be back soon. They’ve been telling me to rest too,” and she left the room.

 

He blinked at that, feeling alone, but the exhaustion caught up with him, and he was asleep before he could complain too much to himself.

 

Rey hugged herself as she walked towards her bunk. She was tired. She was tired of the attention and the stares and the glares. She was tired of being looked at like she was diseased or traitorous or crazy. She was tired of not knowing everything, of knowing too much and not enough. She was tired of Finn not being her friend because she had chosen Ben. She was tired of Rose being so close because she knew Rey needed a friend. She was tired of the knights who doted on her a bit too much. She was tired of Leia who was basking in her son after she had told Rey she couldn’t go after him. She was tired of feeling like she should be here with the Resistance but like she didn’t actually belong. That missing belonging still hurt.

 

She only felt like she belonged when in Ben’s arms.

 

He was still so far away with the medication still thick in his veins.

 

Her heart fell when she came to her bunk and found Finn inside, inspecting one of the scrolls.

 

He looked up at her. “You doing okay?” He asked, sounding like the same old Finn.

 

“Alright. Tired. Worried.”

 

“You’re still...in love with him...?”

 

Rey nodded and hugged herself closer. “I’m worried that after everything, him coming here, that we’ve lost it, lost this war, this hope, lost everything.”

 

Finn opened his arms and hugged her close. “You haven’t lost me.”

 

The tension between them melted, and Rey hugged him tighter.

Kit Ren nodded to the guard who was leaning against the wall beside Kylo Ren’s room. “Thank you for keeping him safe,” she chirped.

 

The guard coughed on the portions bar he had just taken a bite out of. She waved her hand, and the chunk dislodged itself from his mouth and into his hand. “Careful”, she giggled, entering the room.

 

Kylo Ren was staring at the ceiling, wavering in and out of consciousness with the waves of medication. His head lolled to view Kit, and he gave a soft smile. “Good to see you.”

 

“You too. We were all worried.” She took a stool and rummaged in her pack. “I couldn’t get your saber.”

 

He frowned.

 

“Peykah took it. I went looking for it. Before we escaped.”

 

“Tell me what happened.”

 

She was always the best storyteller of the Knights.

Kit Ren stalked through the medbay, knowing that the last place he had had his weapon was when he was shot by Hux. The room was already cleaned and emptied. She scowled and turned, looking for any droid she could question.

 

She hesitated. A force signature hummed down another corridor, coming closer. She recognized Peykah’s signature like she knew the sound of feet coming down the stairs.

 

She worked her own signature into a small inconspicuous ball, like clay. She hadn’t become a skilled thief from broadcasting her whereabouts. She moved towards the signature, trying to listen for the hum of Kylo’s kyber crystal, which had been as volatile as its owner. His vibrated erratically, with the undercurrents of a feral cat. Her own saber and force signature hummed like sea waves and bonfires. Peykah’s coming down the hall was loud and composed and always reminded Kit of her brief missions to Coruscant.

 

Kit pounced as soon as she felt Peykah come even with the corner. They met each other with familiar scrapping and wrestling.

 

“You’re a dirty little traitor,” the twi'lek sneered beneath her mask.  

 

“You’re not any better than me!”

 

Kit managed to shove Peykah against the wall, unfastening her belt and collecting the entirety of its contents: Peykah’s saber, a pack with inconsequentials, several high access key cards, and Kylo’s saber. Rather, the shell of his saber. As soon as she had it in her hand she tried to ignite it, and there was only an anticlimactic click. It was empty and lifeless, and if she didn’t get out of there, she was going to be empty and lifeless, too.

 

She dashed around Peykah, catching her off guard, but also stumbling over a med-droid on its duties. She dropped everything she had taken, and she pushed herself faster into a service elevator. She jammed the controls, making it shoot up at an alarming rate. It banged into the top of the shaft, and she forced the door open, rolling into the hallway where she knew Kylo Ren’s chambers were.

 

She didn’t know why she was headed that far out of the way when she really should have been headed to the hangars, but she knew the Force needed her. She didn’t bother with passcodes or doors. She took her saber to the door and hit the opening mechanism. His room was cold and empty and pristine though she was sure it was the result of droids rather than Kylo’s own hygienic habits. Something was practically yelling at her through the Force from his desk. She threw open the drawers and found her hands on a dark metaled saber casing and a violet kyber crystal in the shape of a heart. She pocketed them, and she found herself back in the hall, heading for the nearest escape pods.

 

 

Ben’s eyes were on her hands in her pouch, suddenly excited. “You found the kyber?”

 

Kit nodded, bouncing her wild mane of curls. She pulled the crystal and the casing out to him. “It called to me to return to you,” she cooed. “It’s not angry like your old one. This one is calm and balanced.”

 

“Balance.” Ben smiled at her. “Are you turning to the light?”

 

Kit looked down at her hands. “Skywalker appeared to me, and he told me if I did not, I would be destroyed. I am trying...”

 

“But you’re afraid you won’t be able to.”

 

“You feel the same.”

 

“Of course.”

 

“We don’t have to hate each other like Snoke wanted, do we?”

 

“None of us ever hated you, Kit.”

 

She looked up at him. “I never hated you. I could feel how lonely you were. I was forbidden from...” She shrugged and looked back down.

 

“The Resistance Fighter, the girl with the hair,” he made a flipping motion next to his cheek. “She came because she thought I was worth saving, wait-,” he suddenly frowned. “How did they get back?”

 

“Ahtu,” Kit nodded. “She’s trying very hard to be good, or light, or balanced, or whatever we’re supposed to be now.”

 

He nodded. “I will have to ask her...”

 

Kit grinned. “It was exciting! Urj nearly killed her! I was floating in the escape pod for ages before Div and Ahtu picked me up.”

 

Ben tried to smile, feeling the soreness starting to come back into his chest. “Kit, could you find a med droid?”

 

She nodded. “I’m sorry we couldn’t bring any medics. They had already been alerted and tried to shoot Div when he approached.”

 

Ben shook his head. “I’ll live.”

 

“You’re lucky you will. I want to see you and Rey get married.”

 

Ben shook his head more. “She said she won’t marry me.”

 

Kit set a hand on the doorframe. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured, finally exiting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kit is becoming one of my favorite characters. Hope you guys like her, too.  
> One more chapter! I'll try not to take too long, but I don't want to leave any loose ends.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally finish their lightsabers!

The day the med droids declared Ben healed enough to leave the Resistance base’s med bay, Rey took his hand and led him deep into the jungle. He was silent, reveling in the first taste of freedom he had had since before he had called himself Kylo Ren. He squeezed Rey’s hand to make her look back and smile at him. 

 

Things had calmed down, though he knew a storm was coming, now that he had left the First Order, now that his former knights were in charge of the largest military power in the galaxy, now that he was healed enough to be released from the med bay. Leia had briefly mentioned that he did have crimes to pay for, that she would not be able to protect him from. His knights, or rather Rey’s knights, were already serving their own sentences for their own crimes against freedom and democracy and the general good. They were under constant scrutiny and interrogation, though Div and Kit were unperturbed to give the Resistance all the information they knew. Ahtu was more tight lipped, but she put up no fight against paying her dues. They were being held in the containment block, when they weren’t giving Leia and the other leaders all the information they could. 

 

Ben, on the other hand, had been kept under close supervision and heavily drugged when Rey wasn’t nearby. Until now he was nearly as good as new, besides the soreness that accompanied every movement.

 

It was forgotten now that his focus was on the girl that was holding his hand. 

 

“Look at my treehouse,” she told him, pointing up at the makeshift shelter she had made. 

 

“It’s lovely,” he laughed, grinning proudly. 

 

“That’s where...” she laughed and shook her head, moving her hand to unlatch the rope ladder so it swung down to her. “Come up with me.”

 

She was at the top before he caught the rope with his hands. He steadied it and pulled himself up and scrambled onto the duristeel floor that had been salvaged from an old fighter wing. She took his wrist in both hands and tugged. He weighed more than she expected, and he lost his balance and tumbled into her. 

 

She laughed at him and pushed him off. “None of that. You made me a promise you need to keep first!” 

 

He nodded, folding his legs beneath him, gesturing for her to sit with him. 

 

She took the container that held all the pieces, the hilt and the screws and the connections, and she pulled the purple kyber heart from her belt, and she sat down facing him. 

 

He shook his head and offered his hand to her. She studied his hand for a moment before she took it. He guided her so that she was sitting just in front of him, her back against him, her legs mirroring his. 

 

“Breathe,” Ben whispered in her ear. “And reach out, and feel the Force.” He set his hands on the outside of her elbows. 

 

Rey cradled the kyber in her palms. “How do you expect me to breathe with you so close?”

 

His chuckle was low in his stomach, and she felt it against her back. She leaned back, setting her head against his cheek. “I expect you to use the Force,” Ben hummed, rubbing her upper arm. His thumb traced her scar. “Focus.”

 

“Can I watch you first?”

 

He nodded, rubbing his cheek against her head. He didn’t like taking his hands from her skin, but it would be easier if she saw him put his own saber together. 

 

It was easier for her to focus on the Force when he used it. It was easy to learn the Force when he used it. She had learned so much just from the few brief encounters with him across their Force Bond. She leaned against him, watching him cradle the pieces and his own crystal in his large hands. She tentatively set her fingers on his wrists, feeling his force signature. She felt his chest expand as he breathed in. 

 

The pieces started to hover, and they circled around each other. Rey felt the waves of the Force wash over them and was calmed. She studied his movements and the will of the Force. She found that he was exploring, too, wandering through the force signature of the crystal. He led her along, and he slipped the first pieces together, just a piece into the casing, but enough to gain Rey’s attention.  She curiously observed his fingers move as the pieces arranged and rearranged themselves. 

 

“This is easier than my old saber,” Ben whispered in her ear. “I can tell that the Force is balanced in it.”

 

Rey smiled, watching the saber take form. The hilt was a dark metal, simple, thick. She compared his to her hilt. Hers was lithe and narrow though strong. Their hilts were clearly made by him, but she was impressed by how much hers was truly hers. 

 

The pieces were finally clicking and sliding into place, and the kyber crystal was sinking into its proper place. Rey felt the finality of it, but she didn’t expect the small flash of light that came when the crystal was finally positioned in its cradle. 

 

“Did yours...?”

 

Ben shook his head. “I’ve never seen that happen. But you felt it? Felt the Force?”

 

Rey nodded and scooted so she was leaning properly against his chest. “It’s beautiful.”

 

“Your turn, Sweetheart.” 

 

Rey nodded, and she reached out to collect the pieces she needed. The pieces floated over to her, and the crystal moved up into the center of the floating pieces. 

 

“I’m so proud of you every time you use the Force,” he whispered into her ear. He pressed a kiss onto the top of her shoulder. 

 

She felt her cheeks and upper arms blush. She watched the pieces line up into pretty concentric circles. 

 

Ben set his own saber to the side and placed his hands on the outside of her elbows. “I’m here. I’ll never leave you.”

 

To her surprise, a few small connections clicked together. Happiness bubbled in her heart. 

 

“You’re so happy,” he said in awe. “I feel it. It feels like bubbles.”

 

The pieces spun quickly. 

 

He set his chin on her shoulder. “You said before that you used your life Force to heal my heart?”

 

The waves of the Force nearly drowned them in the comfort and balance that was the Force’s way of saying yes. 

 

“The Force keeps finding ways to connect us, Rey,” he whispered. 

 

Several pieces screwed into place. 

 

“There was a story,” Rey whispered, “back on Jakku, of an underground river that trailed underneath the entire planet.” The saber button clicked into place. “They said that there were people who were always on those lines, those lines of life and destiny. There were whispers that the rivers were rivers of pure force that had gone long dormant. They said that even though they were asleep, the rivers still brought people together, people who needed to be together, like animals at an oasis.” The saber found more pieces connecting to it, though the crystal still floated between them, waiting for its turn. “I thought it was a fairy tale, a myth. I thought the Force was a myth.” Ben rubbed her upper arms. “But now I know it’s real, it’s there, it’s within me,” she smiled. “I know it brought me to you.” Those words brought the Force rushing into that moment, her lightsaber clicking into a complete piece. It blazed to life, and Rey sighed at the vibrant violet blade. 

 

“That is your lightsaber, Rey. It’s all yours. It’s beautiful.”

 

She took it in her hands and deactivated the blade. “And yours?”

 

He smiled, igniting his own. His saber was the same deep purple, and it looked so much more natural in his hand than his previous volatile weapon. 

 

“I would ask to spar, but I know you’re still sore,” Rey whispered. 

 

He nodded. “I would like to just exist with you for a while, before we have to go back.”

 

Rey turned so she was leaning against him sideways. “Then we will. I am glad that you’re here. Like really really here.” 

 

“Me too,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I don’t know what’s next, but I’m glad that we will face it together.” 

 

Rey entangled her fingers with his free hand. He turned off his saber and wrapped both arms tight around her. 

 

“You have healed my heart and held my hand and drug me back to the light.”

 

“You taught me how.”

 

He laughed and cradled her close.

 

“How long do you think this will last?” Rey asked. 

 

He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “My love? Forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I had to end it sweet. I’m so grateful for all of your words and kudos and everything! I hope you liked it. 
> 
> I do have some ideas for more, but this is where this story ends naturally. I have some other projects I want to work on. 
> 
> May the Force be with you


End file.
